"While you may be familiar with the old saying, “opposites attract,” in reality, what the heart wants is someone who resembles its owner and that resemblance increases the longer two lovebirds stay together.

University of Michigan psychologist Robert Zajonc conducted an experiment to test this phenomenon. He analyzed photographs of couples taken when they were newlyweds and photographs of the same couples taken 25 years later.

The results showed that the couples had grown to look more like each other over time. And, the happier that the couple said they were, the more likely they were to have increased in their physical similarity."

You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.

Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. He does not possess the requisite intellect and does not understand the significance of the office he holds nor the tasks associated with it. He doesn't read. He doesn't bother to peruse important files and intelligence reports and knows little about the issues that he has identified as his priorities. His decisions are capricious and they are delivered in the form of tyrannical decrees.

He is a man free of morals. As has been demonstrated hundreds of times, he is a liar, a racist and a cheat. I feel ashamed to use these words, as sharp and loud as they are. But if they apply to anyone, they apply to Trump. And one of the media's tasks is to continue telling things as they are: Trump has to be removed from the White House. Quickly. He is a danger to the world.

Trump is a miserable politician. He fired the FBI director simply because he could. James Comey had gotten under his skin with his investigation into Trump's confidants. Comey had also refused to swear loyalty and fealty to Trump and to abandon the investigation. He had to go.

Witnessing an American Tragedy

Trump is also a miserable boss. His people invent excuses for him and lie on his behalf because they have to, but then Trump wakes up and posts tweets that contradict what they have said. He doesn't care that his spokesman, his secretary of state and his national security adviser had just denied that the president had handed Russia (of all countries) sensitive intelligence gleaned from Israel (of all countries). Trump tweeted: Yes, yes, I did, because I can. I'm president after all.

Nothing is as it should be in this White House. Everyone working there has been compromised multiple times and now they all despise each other - and everyone except for Trump despises Trump. Because of all that, after just 120 days of the Trump administration, we are witness to an American tragedy for which there are five theoretical solutions.

The first is Trump's resignation, which won't happen. The second is that Republicans in the House and Senate support impeachment, which would be justified by the president's proven obstruction of justice, but won't happen because of the Republicans' thirst for power, which they won't willingly give up. The third possible solution is the invocation of the 25th Amendment, which would require the cabinet to declare Trump unfit to discharge the powers of the presidency. That isn't particularly likely either. Fourth: The Democrats get ready to fight and win back majorities in the House and Senate in midterm elections, which are 18 months away, before they then pursue option two, impeachment. Fifth: the international community wakes up and finds a way to circumvent the White House and free itself of its dependence on the U.S. Unlike the preceding four options, the fifth doesn't directly solve the Trump problem, but it is nevertheless necessary - and possible.

No Goals and No Strategy

Not quite two weeks ago, a number of experts and politicians focused on foreign policy met in Washington at the invitation of the Munich Security Conference. It wasn't difficult to sense the atmosphere of chaos and agony that has descended upon the city.

The U.S. elected a laughing stock to the presidency and has now made itself dependent on a joke of a man. The country is, as David Brooks wrote recently in the New York Times, dependent on a child. The Trump administration has no foreign policy because Trump has consistently promised American withdrawal while invoking America's strength. He has promised both no wars and more wars. He makes decisions according to his mood, with no strategic coherence or tactical logic. Moscow and Beijing are laughing at America. Elsewhere, people are worried.

In the Pacific, warships - American and Chinese - circle each other in close proximity. The conflict with North Korea is escalating. Who can be certain that Donald Trump won't risk nuclear war simply to save his own skin? Efforts to stop climate change are in trouble and many expect the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Agreement because Trump is wary of legally binding measures. Crises, including those in Syria and Libya, are escalating, but no longer being discussed. And who should they be discussed with? Phone calls and emails to the U.S. State Department go unanswered. Nothing is regulated, nothing is stable and the trans-Atlantic relationship hardly exists anymore. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Norbert Röttgen fly back and forth, but Germany and the U.S. no longer understand each other. Hardly any real communication takes place, there are no joint foreign policy goals and there is no strategy.

In "Game of Thrones," the Mad King was murdered (and the child that later took his place was no better). In real life, an immature boy sits on the throne of the most important country in the world. He could, at any time, issue a catastrophic order that would immediately be carried out. That is why the parents cannot afford to take their eyes off him even for a second. They cannot succumb to exhaustion because he is so taxing. They ultimately have to send him to his room - and return power to the grownups.

Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.

Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.

"While you may be familiar with the old saying, “opposites attract,” in reality, what the heart wants is someone who resembles its owner and that resemblance increases the longer two lovebirds stay together.

University of Michigan psychologist Robert Zajonc conducted an experiment to test this phenomenon. He analyzed photographs of couples taken when they were newlyweds and photographs of the same couples taken 25 years later.

The results showed that the couples had grown to look more like each other over time. And, the happier that the couple said they were, the more likely they were to have increased in their physical similarity."

And yet, according to Newsweek, The White House Facebook page failed to acknowledge First Gentleman of Luxembourg Gauthier Destenay, married to Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, in a post featuring the spouses of world leaders attending last week’s G7 summit in Sicily. The photo caption included the names of every other spouse, all of them wives, beginning with: "First Lady Melania Trump poses with Belgium’s Queen Mathilde, center, and other spouses of NATO leaders."

The omission of Destenay's name in the official White House post remained for at least six hours on Saturday before The Guardian staff writer Scott Bixby shared a screenshot on Twitter, writing: "Is there a reason the White House didn't include the First Gentleman of Luxembourg in this photo caption? Like, a non-homophobic one?"

Herschel, in his own words" "In my eyes being gay means being a part of society that sees the world through a different lens than everyone else; no matter your gender, age, socioeconomic background, or race all of us who identify as LGBT and those who don’t (but know in their hearts they are) see the world in a completely different way. For some, being blessed with this unique gift causes them to label themselves negatively and see themselves as less of a human, which is unfortunate; but fortunately I was blessed to grow up in a home and be surrounded by open minded people who accepted me for who I was, which was a human, just like everybody else, who just so happened to like the same sex. Society has too many labels for people which does not allow them the freedom to express their true colors without judgment from others. When it all comes down to it we’re all just humans whether you’re black, white, Native American, gay, bi, or straight; everyone deserves the same amount of respect and no one should have to live by or up to societies gender standards for men and women. Lastly, how I see it is, being gay isn’t an excuse for anything, it’s not anyone’s fault, and it’s not a punishment it’s simply being a part of a select number of humans who just so happen to like the same sex.

Being a part of two minorities has been something that I’ve struggled with along with not having self-security and a positive self-image of myself after coming to terms with the fact that I was gay. During my younger years I had a hard time identifying with other people of color because I grew up in Portland (which is a majorly Caucasian city.) To add onto that I had a hard time identifying myself as a male because I was unsure of my sexuality starting at a very young age.

I went to a big public elementary school in SE Portland where the majority of my peers were Caucasian, which lead me to adopt some of their unique habits that weren’t similar to the ones that I encountered when I entered a middle school and eventually high school where the majority of the population was of color. While attending the new schools that I did in North and Northeast Portland I didn’t listen to the same music as my peers, I talked differently, had different interests, and dressed differently; for these reasons along with going through the awkward ‘ugly’ stages of puberty and being unsure of my sexual orientation I was teased a lot about how different I was than everyone else. These years were very difficult for me as a young person and although I didn’t show it I was very depressed because of it.

Over time, I was able to adapt to my changing surroundings and come to terms with my sexuality and be comfortable with it. Because of this, I eventually gained more self-confidence and security each and every day. Now, having more confidence in who I was allowed me to open up a door for me to be more social with the people around me at school and in life; Being more social allowed me to make many great friends throughout my middle and high school years and it allowed me to establish more professional connections as well.

While going through these tough transitions though (before I was out) I would always say to myself ‘They are teasing me because they know I’m different, and (the difference) meaning (because I was gay)’ although I was able to cover up my emotions in the spotlight I wasn’t able to handle it in the silent night; even sometimes now, when I feel like people are treating me differently, being rude, or looking or overlooking me altogether I immediately jump to the conclusion that ‘they know I’m gay’ instead of saying to myself ‘Well they must be having a bad day’ or ‘They’re just rude to everyone and I shouldn’t take it personal’.

Emotion isn’t something that I show much of unless its happiness, frustration, or contentment but sometimes still when I think people are treating me differently my feelings get hurt. I say this again because in my mind I see it as them saying or showing me without words that ‘I’m not good enough’ or that ‘I’m less than a human because of my sexuality.’

I can’t speak on the entire gay community in Portland because I feel like I haven’t ‘experienced’ it fully yet as I am still very young, but through my time living in Portland and identifying myself as gay I have encountered nothing but happy, smart, funny, and creative individuals who don’t let societies labels hold them back from doing what the hell they want to do with their life.

My coming out story doesn’t have a traditional ‘start and finish’ well hell most coming out stories don’t; I was about 17 when I fully accepted who I truly was and identified myself proudly that I was gay. Although I’m not super ‘masculine’ some of the people that I considered friends at the time didn’t know. Eventually, in casual conversation between classes (or during classes), it would get brought up and discussed and some would even come up to me and ask. While having this moment of vulnerability with them when I revealed my true self, most didn’t blink an eye.

I was also fortunate enough to have befriended someone who at first, unknowingly, was going through the same thing as I was. We were each other’s right arms and after many years of friendship we grew to be very close. Overtime our self-disclosure about our sexuality and life in general got deeper and deeper and in a weird way we both transitioned into being ‘out’ to our peers together. Throughout our years of friendship in high school we had each other to lean on when times got rough or we just needed someone to talk to. Although we had a very extreme (for lack of a better word) friendship I am so blessed and thankful that I met him and had him by my side through thick and thin.

The only advice I would give my younger self about coming out or anyone who is unsure if it’s the right decision for them is to make sure it’s something that you want to do. No one is forcing you to say anything about your sexuality and you have the power (and right) to let people wonder and whisper about you, or to simply let them see the real you. "

"While you may be familiar with the old saying, “opposites attract,” in reality, what the heart wants is someone who resembles its owner and that resemblance increases the longer two lovebirds stay together.

University of Michigan psychologist Robert Zajonc conducted an experiment to test this phenomenon. He analyzed photographs of couples taken when they were newlyweds and photographs of the same couples taken 25 years later.

The results showed that the couples had grown to look more like each other over time. And, the happier that the couple said they were, the more likely they were to have increased in their physical similarity."

Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.

From the work of Chicago born photographer Richard Renaldi. Over the course of more than a decade, Richard has recorded images of himself and his partner Seth Boyd in their hotel rooms across the country and around the world for his project "Hotel Room Portraits."

I fell in love with these images from the very first time that I saw them. There is something incredibly familiar and comforting in recognizing not only the love between Richard and Seth, but also the rigors of travel and the occasional weary eyes and tiredness that we all fall prey to. Moreover, these photos reveal an intimacy and comfortableness that one finds only when two people are truly in love... They reveal "love and life's journeys."

Richard Renaldiwas born in Chicago in 1968. He received his BFA in photography from New York University in 1990. Exhibitions of his photographs have been mounted in galleries and museums throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. In 2006 Renaldi's first monograph, Figure and Ground, was published by the Aperture Foundation. His second monograph, Fall River Boys, was released in 2009. Richard Renaldi is the founder and publisher of Charles Lane Press.

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